Police: Developments made in double homicide investigation

Police say they have made progress in the Hardeeville double homicide investigation, but are not able to release new information about the May 11 shooting deaths.

“There have been developments but there is nothing that we can release at this time,” Hardeeville Police Chief Richard Nagy said Thursday morning.

The investigation into the deaths of Desmond Brown, 25, of Hardeeville, and Octavia Scott, 26, of Bluffton, has been ongoing since their bodies were found at about 6 p.m. May 11 in a ditch beside a borrowed car on a dirt lane off Purrysburg Road. Both died of gunshot wounds to the head.

“We are not commenting on anything at this time so as not to compromise the case,” said Nagy. “This is a priority for us. It’s very important to us and we’re going to make sure that everything is covered so when we do what we need to do, the case is solid. They have not stopped working the case since it happened.”

Results from a toxicology report following the autopsies have not been received, said Martin Sauls, Jasper County Coroner on Thursday.

Nagy said there are no suspects or motive and no information available on the .45 caliber shell casing found at the scene. He did not have a number but said investigators have interviewed numerous people. There is no one location where investigators are looking, he said.

“When you have a case, you don’t know where that case will take you. When you get in the process and start working the solvability factors in front of you, it’s not unusual for cases to cross jurisdictions, even take you across the United States,” Nagy said.

Two agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division as well as investigators from the 14th Circuit Court Solicitor’s Office have been involved in the case almost since the beginning, he said.

“Their job is side-by-side with investigations. They’re heavily involved in the decision-making process,” Nagy said, “plus there are absolute legal parameters that the police department have to operate within. There are laws, constitutional rights, prosecutorial concerns. Working with the solicitor’s office investigator, it’s critically important in the success of a case because they do a lot of the leg work. You almost have a task force and the more minds you have at this, you see the process works so much better.”

Emergency personnel were initially called out for a car wreck with bodies. When examined at the scene by, both individuals were found to have gunshot wounds to the head. Murder-suicide was ruled out by Sauls who said their deaths were instantaneous.